NULL pointer dereference in Linux
CVE-2026-23206
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: dpaa2-switch: prevent ZERO_SIZE_PTR dereference when num_ifs is zero The driver allocates arrays for ports, FDBs, and filter blocks using kcalloc() with ethsw->sw_attr.num_ifs as the element count. When the device reports zero interfaces (either due to hardware configuration or firmware issues), kcalloc(0, ...) returns ZERO_SIZE_PTR (0x10) instead of NULL. Later in dpaa2_switch_probe(), the NAPI initialization unconditionally accesses ethsw->ports[0]->netdev, which attempts to dereference ZERO_SIZE_PTR (address 0x10), resulting in a kernel panic. Add a check to ensure num_ifs is greater than zero after retrieving device attributes. This prevents the zero-sized allocations and subsequent invalid pointer dereference.
Published · last modified .
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 5.5 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
EPSS exploit prediction
EPSS: 0.001 (1.6th percentile), scored .
Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 2nd percentile — 1.6% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.
EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.001 · newest: 0.001 · change: +0.000
Affected products
- Linux — versions 0b1b71370458860579831e77485883fcf2e8fbbe, 5.13, 0
- Linux Kernel — versions 6.19
Weakness classification (CWE)
References
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2026-23206?
- CVE-2026-23206 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under NULL Pointer Dereference. CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2026-02-14.
- How severe is CVE-2026-23206?
- Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.